


Wait for it

by nishiki



Series: Kliego Moments [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Death, Declarations Of Love, M/M, Major Character Injury, Sad, Sad Ending, Serious Injuries, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:07:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25088914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki
Summary: A mission gone wrong, a dream shattered.
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves/Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Kliego Moments [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818838
Comments: 12
Kudos: 104





	Wait for it

**Author's Note:**

> A little idea I had the other day. Originally, I wanted to write something sweet and silly - then my brain did THIS. Well, maybe I will still write something sweet and silly soon <3

The air was warm and stuffy in the attic. Dust particles were dancing in the sunlight that was filtering in through blind windows, glittering like stars in the night sky. Shelves with long-forgotten items and artifacts of a joyless childhood filled the room, surrounding the nest they had built for themselves in the far back of the attic where no one could find them or hear them or judge them. The mattress was thin and old, the sheets dusty and yellowed by time. None of that mattered - not to them. They had each other and their secret haven here in the back of the attic. 

Up here they could allow themselves to indulge in that fantasy, pretend that they were free, that they were allowed to love each other without prejudice or judgment from anyone. Up here they were in their own secret little world, far removed from reality and it's sharp teeth and claws. Reality was stupid and hungry and it would tear them apart sooner or later - but up here they could pretend that it wasn’t so.

He had Klaus in his arms, his naked body against his own, Klaus’ head on his shoulder, Klaus’ curls tickling the side of his neck, Klaus’ lips ghosting across his skin, whispering sweet nothings into his flesh. The air still smelled sweetly like the weed that they had both shared. He felt at peace. For once, he felt at peace. Out there, in the real world, in that house below them he was anxious and nervous and heartbroken and angry. Downstairs he never knew peace. Condemned to be the agitator against Luther - his brother. Condemned to always be the second-best, regardless of what he would do in life. Up here, however, he could pretend to be free, could allow himself to be soft and gentle and love with his whole heart.

"Two weeks" Klaus whispered against his skin and as Diego glanced down at him, he all but lost himself in the green pools of Klaus’ eyes as he looked up at him to return his gaze. The tiny wrinkles around his eyes told him of the smile that Klaus was hiding against his skin. It was not the Cheshire grin that Klaus always liked to show the rest of their family, the smile that wouldn't reach his eyes. This was a sincere smile, a mischievous one.

"What?"

"We turn seventeen in two weeks." Klaus explained calmly and finally propped himself up on Diego’s chest. "And then … Then we leave, right? The two of us." 

"Mhm," He hummed gently and brushed his fingers through Klaus’ curls. His hair had come loose from where he would normally gel it back as Dad wanted them too. He was beautiful like this, with his hair loose and his curls hanging in his forehead, his cheeks a little pink from their shared pleasure. "That we will."

"And we’ll find a nice little flat somewhere far away."

"Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know" Klaus replied. "Mexico? Los Angeles? I don't really care … a warm place would be nice. Somewhere where the sun always shines." 

"Sounds like a perfect plan."

"Mhm … I always have the best ideas. You’ll become a policeman and I’ll become a famous artist." 

What a dream that was that Klaus was conjuring up in his drug-riddled mind. He was the white rabbit and Diego would jump after him into the rabbit hole and straight into wonderland without hesitation. 

"Do you think Dad will try to stop us, though?"

"Maybe," Klaus said and dragged his index finger down Diego's cheekbone before he pushed his hand gently into his hair and dragged his thumb across the scar at the side of his head. Sometimes it still hurt - especially when it got cold. A constant reminder of his own mortality and of the bullet that had almost killed him a year ago. "We'll just have to sneak out then, don't we?"

Klaus made it always sound so easy. Behind those emerald eyes he was haunted, the world inside his skull a bitter nightmare every day, the world outside twisted and turned on its head and filled with corpses. A sea of the dead that Klaus was forced to wade through each and every day while the people around him could never understand or even imagine. 

Carefully, as if he was afraid to break him, Diego cupped his face with both his hands - his tanned skin a stark contrast to Klaus' pale flesh. A constant reminder that they were different. One soul in two bodies but still two separate entities. Sometimes he forgot. Sometimes he couldn't tell where he ended and Klaus began. He felt like missing a limb when Klaus wasn't around, drifting alone in the vast expanse of the ocean under a starless sky.

"I love you" He breathed against Klaus plump lips and felt them quirk unto a smile as they pressed against his own.

"I love you" Klaus replied so quietly as if he was afraid to break the spell if he dared to say these words too loudly. Diego wanted to scream it from the rooftops but their family would never understand. They would judge them, ridicule them, forbid them from being together. He often wondered if their father knew about them but then he was sure that Sir Reginald Hargreeves would have done something about it already. They were careful. They were sneaky. And yet, Diego just wanted to be able to hold Klaus' hand or kiss him without worry that someone would catch them in the act. Being sneaky had long stopped being exciting. Now it only pained him that they needed to hide their love.

He rolled them over with ease and Klaus' perfect long legs opened for him and embraced him immediately. Their mouth slotted together hungrily as Diego rocked his hips against Klaus. Klaus giggled quietly against his lips before he bit down on his bottom lip. Heat was pooling between his legs and Klaus’ lips tasted sweeter than honey.

Just then, the mission alarm was suddenly going off, blaring through the mansion and calling them back to reality without consent. 

※※※※※※※

Blood. There was so much blood. He was disoriented. Up was down and down was up. The wonderland had become a twisted, ugly thing, filled with thorns and sickness and decay. He didn't know what was going on, where he was and where he had gone wrong with his life to end up here in this situation where nothing made sense anymore. 

There were people screaming. The hostages. 

He remembered the sound of a bomb going off. His ears were still ringing. The hostages were screaming. There was so much blood. 

"Diego!" A voice called out for him, loud and crackling and high-pitched over the device in his left ear. "Diego! Come in, Diego!"

"I’m here." He slurred out as he slowly fought his way back to his feet. He could see a group of people huddled in the corner. Some of the hostages seemed relieved to see that he got up again. As he glanced down, he saw the large piece of metal that was still stuck in his side. Every bit of movement made him want to keel over and fall back into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness. He paused in his movement as he looked around the place he was in. He shouldn't be this close to the hostages. Why was he here? How did he get here?

"Are you hurt?" Finally, he realized that it was Luther who was talking to him. Luther who sounded, dare he say it, worried.

"Yeah"

"How bad is it?"

"I dunno" He had to brace himself against a stone column that had miraculously survived the blast. Otherwise, the whole ceiling would have probably come down on them. "Bad, I guess … Got a shard of metal sticking out of me - don’t think that's supposed to be there." 

"Shit!" Luther cursed. "I told you to stay away and focus!" Did he? "What's with Klaus? He doesn’t answer."

Klaus. That's why he took off running from his assigned position to where the hostages were. Klaus was supposed to be with them. As he looked at the small gaggle of people who were sitting in the corner, injured from the debris that the explosion had sent their way, he couldn't find Klaus. His heart began thumping in his chest - so hard he was sure that his ribs were breaking. 

Slowly, he took another look around before he pushed himself off of the column and started staggering through the room. A large piece of the ceiling had come down in the middle of the room, not far from where Diego had woken up and where a pool of blood still reminded of his injury. He made his way around it and then he saw it. A foot sticking out from behind one of the overturned desks at the side. As quickly as he could he hurried towards the desk.

"Diego! Where is Klaus?" Luther yelled through the earpiece again and almost made him wince. 

"Dunno" He muttered quietly. "Dunno…" 

Dark blotches danced at the edge of his vision, luring him back into wonderland without his consent. He had to find Klaus. That was all he could think of right now. He needed to find Klaus. He could see the second foot of the person lying behind the desk on the ground as he came closer and then, as he walked around the desk, his world shattered into a million tiny pieces. The wail that escaped his throat didn't sound like his own voice, he didn't recognize it and didn't even realize for the longest time that it came out of his own mouth. 

Between the rubble, Klaus lay motionless. His green eyes were staring emptily at the ceiling above him. There was so much blood. His knees gave in as he reached Number Four’s body and he didn't care for the pain he was in as he sunk to the ground next to Klaus’ lifeless body. A metal pipe had pierced right through his chest, turned into a deadly projectile by the blast of the explosion that had thrown them back. 

The dark blood on his face stood out in sharp contrast to his pale skin. He was still warm as Diego leaned his forehead against Klaus’. He was dead. Dead and still and silent. Their wonderland was broken, their dream shattered. Reality had him back. Reality was dumb and it had teeth and claws and it ate and ate without a care in the world for the agony it caused.


End file.
